Question: What springs to mind when you think of Contemporary Art?
Popular Answer: Um... Jackson Pollock and that guy Warhol?
I have come to the realization that lots of people think Modern Art is Contemporary Art. We should fix this. Call to all artists/art lovers get your non-artist friends books and magazines and more importantly buy (or make) them some Contemporary Art!
You know what even just talking about it would be great.
It really bums me out that most people think they aren't smart enough to enjoy art. Even some of the smartest people out there, when brought into a gallery or museum will often state that they just don't understand. Who convinced the general population that art is just for an elite group of super smart people, who's goal in life is to talk over every one else's head? Or is it that as a society we are more attuned to text than to still visual images?
What ever the reason we have to work to bring contemporary art into the lives of the people we know. We need to explain that not every thing out there is made to confuse us, and that often art is simply meant to create an emotional connection.
Other wise people will only buy or think about art that comes prepackaged for mass production. Easily accessible in their local department store.
Here are some links to Contemporary Art Museums
1 comment:
I agree. In art school and out of it I realized that a lot of what people understand about the contemporary art world is bogus. I'm by no means a contemporary artist, you know that, but I pay close attention to what's going on in the art world and I've made frequent trips to galleries in NYC, Boston, and Hartford. The ratio of good art to bad art is staggeringly off kilter as purely conceptual art is still supreme in the gallery scene. Not to say conceptual art is bad art, but when the technical aspect of said works are compromised solely for a concept (most often one that really is lame anyhow) I see it as bad art.
I read an interesting article in an art magazine, I think ArtNews, that said something along the line that the reason so much bad art exists is because the powers that run the art community just don't care anymore. One is just as likely to run into an amazingly well crafted collage, mural or sculpture that is chock full of heartfelt meaning and ideas as one is to walk into a gallery full of terribly executed pieces of art with sophomorish concepts.
There is a reason why the average person doesn't "understand" art, in particular contemporary art, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that people like Damien Hirst (no offense to anyone who likes him, this is my opinion and i'm sticking to it) can stick an animal in formaldehyde, pin a biblical quote for a title and call it art. And then it sells for millions... Long gone are the days where Duchamp's cleverness rocked the art world to its core. I liken it to the decline of horror movies into slasher/shock movies. How much blood and death can they put in a movie to further numb society to violence. For us as artists its How much bullshit can fill a gallery to further make the average person question why it is that just about anything can pass for art these days.
Thats my opinion though :)
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